First Days in Nagpur

I finally made it to Nagpur! I arrived Friday morning after traveling for almost two days to get here.  My trip over here was mostly uneventful, I sat next to a man who is Indian but has lived in the US for the past 20 years.  He had never been to Nagpur but what he knew of it was that it was a very relaxed and easygoing city.  I was concerned on my flight from Mumbai to Nagpur, we were already on the plane and the pilot explained that we were 17^th in queue to take off because a plane had skidded off the runway.  A little too cheerfully he said that we could look out the windows on the left as we went by to see it – I didn’t look, I prayed.

I was a little surprised on my first ride through Nagpur from the airport to the hotel.  If this is a relaxed city – I can’t imagine the other cities in India!  There seem to be no rules on the road, the cars are all small and there are tons of scooters and auto rickshaws and bicycles, all weaving in and out of lanes with no signal that they are going to do so.  Red lights seem to be optional.  Everyone beeps their horn a lot but it’s not used like it is in the US – mostly by angry drivers – here it seems to mean “here I come watch out!”

The part of the city I saw when I first arrived was crowded, there weren’t a lot of tall buildings but many buildings all close together.  Closer to the center there are areas where houses and buildings are more spread out but in general the streets are busy.  I also have a new appreciation for street cleaning in Boston – I’ve complained a lot about it this past year because it makes it difficult to find parking – but here there isn’t any street cleaning and some roads get piled up with trash.  There are also animals: goats, dogs, cows all wandering around.  I saw one enormous cow sitting in middle of the road and it didn’t appear to be moving any time soon, cars just maneuvered around it.

I went into the Lata Medical Research Foundation where I’ll be working and met the people there briefly on Friday.  I listened to a couple of presentations they were practicing for the upcoming week.  I was surprised and excited by how many research projects they are involved with, all having to do with maternal and child health.  They are doing a lot of really interesting work and I’m so excited to be involved with it.  I’m staying with a host family, the Khannas, who have been wonderful and so welcoming.  So things are off to a good start and I’m glad to be here and settling in.